Katherin waited until she could hear the tires on the road no longer, until the van was swallowed by fog, until she and Morgana were shrouded by silence. Behind them, the grass bristled in the breeze, angry that someone would dare impede their rest.

Katherin didn't blame them. She just wanted everything to be over; however she was able to end it.

That didn't mean she wanted to end her life. Katherin wouldn't do that. She was just angry; angry at life, angry at how others had treated her as if she was nothing more than a lowlife criminal.

No one deserved to be treated like that.

Katherin stalked towards an abandoned car. It was the colour of mustard, with two-doors and a 'women's rights' keyring dangling from the mirror. The car had been parked on the curb, one of the front wheels flat after being rolled over a metal grate.

There was blood on the door handle, but there wasn't a body. Katherin's searched the surrounding area momentarily, wanting to seek some evidence, trying to distract herself from the blinding rage that was consuming her.

Nothing.

Katherin clenched her jaw. She kicked the car repeatedly, until a dint formed on the side door. The car whined in protest, begging Katherin to cease her assault. Katherin wasn't satisfied. She wanted something, someone, to hurt, just like she had been hurt.

Katherin punched her fist through the window. The glass shattered. Katherin grunted as the fragments pierced her skin, littering her body with shallow cuts.

"Are you done?" Morgana raised an eyebrow, somewhat amused at the scene unfolding before her. It wasn't often that Katherin lost control. Morgana had maybe seen it twice before.

"No," Katherin huffed in response.

Katherin brushed past Morgana, thudding her fists against a brick wall. She brought her knuckles to her lips, kissing the blood off them.

Katherin wiped her lips. Blood smeared across her face. Morgana didn't bother pointing it out.

"You can't make everyone like you, you know," Morgana reminded Katherin softly, praying that her words wouldn't fall on deaf ears.

"I know," Katherin replied weakly. "But Raven? Fuck. I thought she was my friend."

"She just found out that Jaxx is infected. Give her time. I'm sure she didn't mean to lash out at you."

"Yeah. Whatever," Katherin mumbled under breath.

Katherin wasn't convinced. Raven had always been cautious of Katherin, thinking that her relationship with Jaxx was at risk, believing that Katherin might steal Jaxx from her.

Katherin had known Jaxx before Raven, but that was besides the point. Raven had nothing to worry about. Katherin liked girls. She liked Esther, loved her, maybe.

Morgana coughed to hide her chuckle. She often forgot that Katherin was much younger than her, still a teenager, barely seventeen years old. It was an easy mistake to make. After all, Katherin had dropped out of school when she was fifteen, the same year that Esther, Gwynth and Ivory had graduated. The tattoos didn't help either. No one would believe that a seventeen year old girl had so many tattoos, not when she wasn't yet old enough to have them.

Katherin bit down on her lip. Her gaze was trained to the ground, her eyes flickering as if she was solving equations at a pace that her mind couldn't comprehend.

Morgana had only known Katherin briefly before she'd dropped out of high school, but she'd known that Katherin was incredibly smart. She'd been the chairman of the student representative council, the type of person that everyone relied on. Several teachers had protested when Katherin had chosen to drop out of school, telling her that her potential would be left untouched.

Katherin hadn't wanted to leave school. Then again, she hadn't had a choice.

"Katherin," Morgana murmured. "We've got to move."

Katherin jumped.

"Sorry," Katherin muttered.

Morgana couldn't tell if Katherin was talking to her, or whether she was speaking to the ghosts in the city. Either way, Morgana didn't reply. Katherin had nothing to be sorry about. She was just a victim to injustice; a kid abandoned by the system when she'd needed them the most.

They walked towards the shopping centre in silence. Morgana walked several paces in front of Katherin, her crowbar held out beside her, ready to strike anything that dared to step in their path.

The shopping centre had been built in the last six months; a modern work of art, constructed by Masimo Varlez, a famous architect. When it had been built, thousands had gathered to witness the grand opening. Morgana could see why. Much of the shopping centre was made of rose-tinted glass, with hanging moss and circular archways. Even amidst the disruption, it still looked like utopia. A beautifully broken utopia, anyway.

Morgana couldn't wait to step inside.

The shopping centre was much larger than anything they'd raided before, but Morgana was confident that she and Katherin could handle it. When they were together, they were more competent than the rest of the group combined. That wasn't arrogance. It was simply a fact.

Someone, or something, had shattered the glass wall beside the sliding doors.

Katherin stepped over the broken glass and into the shopping centre. Fragments of glass crunched underneath her boots, echoing into the emptiness. Katherin winced, glancing at Morgana. If there was anyone, or anything, in the shopping centre, then they'd just heard their arrival.

Movement.

Katherin whirled around, her hand reaching for her knife.

Nothing.

Katherin had sworn she'd seen a shadow.

"What's that?" Morgana asked softly.

"I thought I saw something, but I must have been mistaken..." Katherin trailed off, eyes still glued to her surroundings.

"No. That," Morgana pointed.

There was a bible on the floor.

Morgana crossed the distance between herself and the bible.

"Morgana. Don't," Katherin warned.

"It's just a bible," Morgana responded, her lips lifted into a half smirk. "Are you really that scared of God?"

Katherin rolled her eyes.

"People make bombs out of all sorts of things, Morgana."

"Only the sacrilegious would defile a bible like that."

"People do much worse in churches."

Morgana shot Katherin a glare.

"Only people like you, darling. Most of us don't make a habit of spitting at priests."

Katherin tried to hide the grin on her face. She couldn't.

"He deserved it."

"That's what they all say."

Katherin snorted, momentarily forgetting where she was and what she'd thought she'd seen.

Behind her, a shadow moved.

Katherin didn't notice.

Morgana didn't either. She was too invested in the bible, too curious to know why it had been abandoned in the middle of the shopping centre.

"Huh," Morgana spoke to herself.

She picked up the bible, flipping to the front page, hesitating over what she saw.

"What?" Katherin asked.

"I know this bible."

"It's a bible. They're all the same," Katherin responded dryly.

"No. Look," Morgana insisted.

Katherin sighed. She had made a point in her youth to not interact with anything religious after her incident at the church.

After the man, Katherin had started to brainstorm reasons behind the apocalypse. She'd assumed that it was simply a science experiment gone wrong, a virus that had mutated before researchers could contain it, but that theory was beginning to come undone. The religious seemed to think that the apocalypse was a God given phenomenon, a disaster to wipe out the non-believers, just like the ark had been. Katherin was sure that there had been some reference to the second coming of Christ in the bible, though she couldn't quite remember.

Kathrin stole a glimpse at the bible.

Morgana was right.

The bible had been encased in leather, decorated with silver lettering. There was no doubt about it. This bible had been custom made.

Morgana flipped to the front page. She offered the bible to Katherin.

There was a symbol, sprayed on with silver ink. The crown of thorns, a simple cross in the centre.

Katherin thought she'd seen the symbol somewhere, but she couldn't remember the context. It must have been from a documentary, something that Katherin had learnt in school. There weren't many other places that Katherin would have come into contact with religious text.

"Flip to the back," Morgana said softly.

Katherin did.

Morgana's signature had been etched into the leather.

"I was commissioned to make this," Morgana explained.

"Just one?"

"Three thousand. I made sixty grand off these bibles."

"Shit," Katherin breathed.

"Yeah," Morgana murmured. She flipped through the pages, scanning for anything unusual. This couldn't have been a coincidence.

After a beat of silence, Morgana spoke again.

"The guy gave me this really weird vibe. I wouldn't have accepted his request if he hadn't offered so much money. Ttod told me that the money was probably stolen, but I think this is bigger than that."

Katherin bit her cheek, pushing away the uneasiness that settled in her gut. Something wasn't right.

"You're right, my dear," a hand settled on Morgana's shoulder.

Morgana froze.

Katherin grabbed her knife.

A black hood was shoved over her head, shrouding her in darkness.

"Katherin! No!" Morgana screamed.

Katherin plunged her knife into her attacker.

Then, the breath was knocked from her chest.